Take a Chance
by kissables333
Summary: Requested.


_A one-shot request for NARNIABELIEVER._

_

* * *

_"Summers."

She rolled her eyes and did not bother to look at him. She knew he was probably leaning arrogantly against the doorway as if he owned the place.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"You."

She tried to hide her smile behind the book she was reading.

"Really?" she replied in what she hoped was a disinterested tone.

"Really." She could hear him walking over to her bed. Just as he was about to sit down she rolled out of bed and turned to face him.

"Too bad." she smiled as she left the room.

Mae Summers had been acquainted with Draco Malfoy for most of her life. Their fathers ran in the same _circles_, so the pair was often thrown together. Mae found that Draco was quite a casanova. Some days, she will admit, she didn't mind his advances.

xo xo xo

Finally back at Hogwarts, Mae searched anxiously for any sign of her friends. Using her height to her advantage, she searched the crowd of milling students and families for any sight of familiar red hair, familiar bushy brown hair, or familiar black hair. Then out of the corner of her, she saw a stock of bushy brown hair moving toward the train.

"Hermione Granger!" she yelled as she catapulted herself away from her family and toward her friends. She'd already said goodbye and couldn't wait to see her friends.

Mae threw herself into Hermione's arms and held her tightly.

"I've missed you!" she said. "The summer has been torture without you. No one else I know seems to understand the importance of reading the books on the reading list before school starts."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ron roll his eyes.

"Ron!" she smiled brightly as she punched him in the arm after letting go of Hermione. "Maybe if _you _tried _opening _the books on the list, you wouldn't have to ask Hermione or me for help on every assignment." she intoned with a smile. "How have you been? You ready for Quidditch? I'm sure our new _captain _is ready to work us to the bone." Mae said she looked over at Harry.

Leaving Ron, she moved to her best friend. "Harry." she smiled. Pulling him in for a tight hug, she closed her eyes and took in his scent. She had missed the boy.

"Hey Mae." he replied as he held her tightly.

Pulling back, she took in his face. He looked tired.

"I've missed you." he mumbled as the crowd around them faded away. All Mae was aware of was her own heartbeat and the feeling of Harry's arms around her.

"I've missed you too." She had missed him. More than he could possibly know.

"Come on, we better get a compartment."

Once they found a compartment, Ron and Hermione left to go to the prefects' carriage.

They sat across from one another.

"How was your summer Harry?" Her voice broke the silence of the compartment. He looked worn out. The purple rings under his eyes worried her. She found she always seemed to worry about Harry.

"Fine." he mumbled.

"How have you been since…"

"Fine." he answered quickly. She didn't believe him.

"Harry—"

"It's hard, Mae."

"I know."

"I miss him. He was the last of my family. I feel so alone now that he's gone."

"You're not alone, Harry. I'll always be here for you."

"I know. I just…I remember seeing you after what happened to Cedric. God…" he shook his head with his eyes shut tight, "I used to close my eyes and see your face. I could see the look of pain on your face when you saw him. I couldn't sleep for weeks. And I didn't want to leave you. But your father wouldn't let you come to the Burrow. I wanted so desperately to know how you felt. I wanted to help you but I didn't know how. Now…"

"And now you know how I felt…After what happened to Sirius last year, I didn't want to leave you because I knew how you would feel. You probably blamed a lot of people. You probably blamed yourself. And I know you, Harry. I know you still blame yourself. But what happened wasn't your fault."

"How can you say that?" he burst out. "If I hadn't been so stupid, he never would've come out to save me. He tried to save me and he died. The same thing could happen to any one of you!"

"Nothing's going to happen Harry."

"You don't know that."

"I promise you Harry. Trust me. Me, Ron, and Hermione…we'll always be here to help you."

xo xo xo

"Summers." she rolled her eyes as she looked up from her book and saw him standing before him.

"What do you want Malfoy?" This scene looked familiar.

He sat down in the chair across from her. "Just thought you would like to know that Slytherin is going to thrash Gryffindor in the match tomorrow."

Mae rolled her eyes again. "You aren't even playing this year."

"Doesn't mean I can't have House pride."

"What's going on, Draco?" she asked quietly, mindful that they were in the library. He acted as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "You're different. You look tired. You seem stressed—"

"Don't worry about me, Mae." he leaned in and pressed his lips against her cheek. "I'll see you around Mae."

Unconvinced, Mae watched Draco leave. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black haired boy stomping out of the library.

xo xo xo

That night in the common room, Mae got to hear Harry's thoughts on her friendship with Malfoy…yet again.

"I don't understand why you're wasting your time with Malfoy." he muttered with his arms crossed as he sat next to her on the couch.

"He's—" she tried to defend as she sat with her legs curled into her chest.

"I don't care what he is! He is only talking to you to mess with me—"

"Yeah," she snapped. "_Clearly_, that's the only option. He doesn't actually _like _me or anything. It's all about _you_."

"I didn't mean—"

"Yes, you did. You don't think that any guy could ever like me. They all have to have an ulterior motive. You thought the same about Cedric!"

"Malfoy is different. You know what he's like."

"You're right. _I _know what he's like. _You_, however, know nothing."

"Mae—"

"Honestly Harry, you think you would've learned last time. You thought Cedric only dated me because I was your friend…you were wrong then. And Draco—"

"You're dating Draco?"

"No…but if anything happens between us, it will have _nothing _to do with you."

"Whatever—"

"I don't want to fight with you, Harry!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't be friends with Malfoy."

"Don't make me choose."

"It should be easy. The git who makes fun of all of your friends or your best friend who has always been there for you—"

"Well I can't say you're here for me now!"

"I don't know what you see in him. _Choose_."

"I can't believe you'd make me choose between you two!"

"It's not that hard!"

"The odds aren't exactly in your favor right now Harry!"

"You'd pick him?" he asked incredulously.

"He's not making me choose! He never talks about you. Lately I've spent more time talking to you about him then I've spent talking to you about anything else!"

"He's up to something and you're too blind to see it!"

"You always think something's wrong with him and other guys I like! With Cedric, you thought he was dating me because I'm your friend. You thought that he thought he could get information on you from me. And now with Draco…you think what? He likes me because he wants to annoy you? What could he get out of that?"

"You like him?" Harry said as his shoulders slumped.

A blush flew across her cheeks. "I…um…Harry—"

"It was bad enough when you were just _friends _with him…but now you want to _snog_ him too?" Harry hissed but behind his anger there was something else that she didn't understand.

"Harry—"

"I don't even know you anymore!" he propelled himself up and off the couch. He left her alone in the common room with her thoughts and her aching heart.

She was conflicted. She was friends with both Harry and Draco. She knew she had the beginnings of a crush on Draco and she had known forever that she liked Harry, but Harry was changing. He was no longer carefree; he didn't smile as much as he used too. She felt like she was losing him to the war.

She was conflicted and she didn't know how to choose. A part of her hoped that Harry's actions were out of jealously; she hoped that he wanted her to want him.

But she knew that couldn't be. They'd been friends for too long and he'd never said anything. It couldn't be true.

There was Draco—the casanova, the heartthrob.

And there was Harry—the white hat, the protector.

xo xo xo

It had been two weeks since she had spoken to Harry—rather it had been two weeks since Harry had spoken to her. Quidditch practices had been hell. She hated not speaking to him. The rest of the team could sense the awkwardness between the captain and the chaser.

She found herself in the library a lot during those two weeks. She found no greater solace than when she lost herself in a good book. She didn't spend too much time with Ron and Hermione, for fear of causing tension in their relationship with Harry.

She shoved a book back onto the shelf angrily.

"Summers." Her head snapped in the direction of the voice.

"Hey Malfoy." she said quietly as she rested her head against the bookcase.

She could feel him moving closer to her. She was surprised when she looked up to find that he was very close to her.

"What are you doing?" she stumbled out as he moved closer to her.

"Nothing." he whispered as he reached out and tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear.

"M-Malfoy…" Her heart was pumping wildly in her chest. Her palms were sweating and she hoped to God that she wasn't blushing.

"Summers." he said with a smirk.

He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

xo xo xo

She was trembling with excitement and happiness that night in the common room.

Hermione looked at her curiously.

"Mae? Are you alright?"

"Yeah." she smiled as she looked down at her knees. "It's just…" she smiled even wider as she looked around the common room to make sure no one was listening. "I got kissed today."

Hermione's eyes grew wide. "By who?"

"Draco." she said quietly, knowing that was the part Hermione wouldn't like. She was proven right as she watched Hermione's expression distort as the bushy-haired girl fought to keep a look of disgust off her face.

"That's…"

"I know you hate him, Hermione. You don't have to pretend." she said with a little laugh.

Hermione sighed. "I know you like him…but I just can't pretend I don't find him horrible. But…I mean…I know you like him…and I—"

"I understand, Hermione. At least you _attempted_ to pretend," she muttered spitefully.

"He means well." Hermione said of Harry. "He doesn't want to lose you."

"I'm his best friend. I'm not going anywhere."

"Seeing you with Malfoy makes him feel like he's lost you."

"He hasn't spoken to me in two weeks—"

"Harry likes you, Mae."

"That's crazy." she said, even though she hoped it was true.

"He does…he just…doesn't know how to tell you."

"I don't believe you Hermione." she said quietly. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed, night."

"Night."

Once Mae had disappeared into the dormitory, Harry moved to the couch to sit next to Hermione.

"She kissed Malfoy?" he asked quietly.

"Malfoy kissed her." Hermione corrected, as if that was supposed to make Harry feel better.

"Doesn't make a difference." Harry said in defeat. "I knew this would happen."

"You could always tell her—"

"No. I can't."

"Harry, you can't just let her go if you care this much—"

"She likes Malfoy—"

"She likes you but you're too stubborn to see it."

"If she likes me so much then why is she all ecstatic that Malfoy kissed her? Tell me _that_."

"She thinks you don't like her. So she's trying to move on."

"I don't want her to."

"Then do something about it."

xo xo xo

Malfoy and Mae spent the next few weeks kissing every time they met but there was something wrong. Hermione's words reverberated in her mind.

_Harry likes you, Mae._

What if he really did like her?

What if Harry truly cared about her as more than a friend?

The butterflies she felt around Malfoy lessened with passing time as the butterflies she felt around Harry remained constant. What she felt for Malfoy was fleeting, but her feelings for Harry remained. She feared that it was too late to do anything about it.

Sitting in the library one afternoon, she was startled by the chair across from her being pulled away from the table.

"There's this girl." he began. "She's been my best friend for years. And she likes this guy I can't stand. The funny thing is that she used to date this great guy and I couldn't stand him either, because he had her and I…didn't. I've wasted all this time and I don't know what to say to her to make everything okay. And I just want to tell her how I feel but I'm afraid of ruining everything. What do you think I should do?" His voice was smooth and cut through the silence of the library.

"I think," she lifted her eyes from her book to meet his dazzling green eyes; "you should take a chance."


End file.
